Adequate heat in Rental?

I’m not sure what the laws are for your specific area, since I’m in Maine. But, I do know that the rental property must be able to maintain at least 68 degrees, if it cannot, then you have a problem. It sounds like you are more worried about the heating bill than the ability of the heater to heat. Sounds like your heater is still meeting the requirements.

Your landlord has some great tax credits for updating to energy efficient windows, I think its $1500. However, I doubt he will. What does the landlord get for it? It really doesn’t help him rent the place any quicker and can be very expensive, so I doubt you will get your landlord to replace your windows. The law would only require your landlord to fix the window if it was broken, single pane windows are legal.

You really should have checked this out before moving in. Now you’re stuck. All it takes is phone call to the utility companies. Just call them up before renting a place and tell them you would like to know the historical averages. They will usually give you the average gas/ electric cost with a high and low bill for the last year.

You can still call them now and get averages, that way you won’t be too surprised at the bills. If they are really high you will be able to conserve more by bundling up and turning the heat down. You can also conserve energy by adding window treatments or blinds (the thicker the better)

Good luck!

P.S. Don’t try to conserve by using portable heaters, it will cost you a ton if you use those! Portable heaters are great for heating a room, but they suck a lot of electricity, so they’re not very good in your case.